Lysacek's road to Sochi starts to get serious

(USA Today) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Behind closed curtains, U.S. Olympic figure skating hopefuls performed their short programs in front of thousands of empty seats at World Arena on Wednesday. There was no applause, but plenty of feedback.

"One of my greatest weapons against the competition this year is experience," Lysacek said. "I've been in almost every situation. I've been up, down, on the greatest highs and the lowest lows. … I have every silver, every gold, every bronze medal to prove it so I think those experiences will come in handy because of the ability to adapt is really crucial to success in the Olympics.

"It's not like every competition. Obstacles come at you left and right, distractions come at you left and right. To learn how to adapt to them from prior experience is really crucial to success."

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All the best Evan. You can do it! Wow... I like the idea of a face off between Plushenko and Evan. Men's figure skating is sooo exciting.

"One of my greatest weapons against the competition this year is experience," Lysacek said. "I've been in almost every situation. I've been up, down, on the greatest highs and the lowest lows. … I have every silver, every gold, every bronze medal to prove it so I think those experiences will come in handy because of the ability to adapt is really crucial to success in the Olympics.

"It's not like every competition. Obstacles come at you left and right, distractions come at you left and right. To learn how to adapt to them from prior experience is really crucial to success."

All the best to Evan. He seems to have plenty of desire and knows how to work hard. HOWEVER, haven't BOTH Patrick Chan and Daisuke Takahashi been to the Olympics before too? Haven't they also had high highs and low lows? I know most skaters have an ego, but seriously? Evan talks like no other skater can have a meaningful Olympics. How much of a role might media spin play in what we're given here? Evan hasn't experienced competition in 3 years, whereas Chan, Takahashi, Fernandez, and others have been on the competitive scene ever since Vancouver. Hanyu is a relative newcomer, but he hasn't not competed for 3 years like Evan has. Evgeni Plushenko and Yu-Na Kim have at least competed sporadically since Vancouver. I am skeptical of how well Evan would place if he gets to Sochi, but it's figure skating, so in a sense you never quite know what will happen. This season will certainly be VERY interesting.

You're right about Chan and Takahashi, skatingfan4ever, but I assumed Evan's remark to mean that he was comparing himself to other American skaters, in which case he's stating the situation more accurately.

Certainly the fact that Evan hasn't experienced competition in three years is a sobering one, so I'm not getting my hopes up too high, but as I said earlier, no American currently skating has his track record, so even if his skills have diminished, he still has a chance to do better than any of them. (I'm hoping really hard that Aaron will use his strengths well this season, but so far we don't know much about his skills other than his fine jumping.) Evan also has a cool head for competition, which I'm not sure most of the other Americans have exhibited yet, and that's an asset that shouldn't be undervalued. Assuming that he stays healthy, that he works as hard as he's famously done in the past, and that he hasn't just started training (which would mean that he hasn't prepared AT ALL--which doesn't sound like his usual method), he might have a chance to benefit the U.S. at the Olympics. As you say, the season will be very interesting.

(Though I'm rooting primarily for Takahashi, I would like the U.S. to have at least a respectable presence in the final standings. I hate that we might end up not only off the podium but out of the top five, or maybe even the top ten.)

You're right about Chan and Takahashi, skatingfan4ever, but I assumed Evan's remark to mean that he was comparing himself to other American skaters, in which case he's stating the situation more accurately.

Gosh, Olympia, I didn't even think about reading it that way. If I had, I would have had a different reaction and then phrased my post differently. Thanks for pointing out that possibility. I feel a bit better now about the whole thing. I'm all for a respectable Sochi showing for the US men!

Gosh, Olympia, I didn't even think about reading it that way. If I had, I would have had a different reaction and then phrased my post differently. Thanks for pointing out that possibility. I feel a bit better now about the whole thing. I'm all for a respectable Sochi showing for the US men!

crucial to success in the Olympics. The end of the statement was the Olympics not US nationals. Against the competition of other Americans in the Olympics? He certainly wasn't talking US nationals. He was talking about the Olympics. You could argue that he talking about the other American in the Olympics but I don't see that. He says very broadly competition not US competition.

crucial to success in the Olympics. The end of the statement was the Olympics not US nationals. Against the competition of other Americans in the Olympics? He certainly wasn't talking US nationals. He was talking about the Olympics. You could argue that he talking about the other American in the Olympics but I don't see that. He says very broadly competition not US competition.

I still feel it could be interpreted that he is talking about his chance to make Americans, but I could of course be wrong. With your explanation, to me it now makes sense both ways. The reality is that the international field is currently very strong, and the American field is relatively weak, so Lysacek has a decent chance to do well on the American team while still having not much chance of excelling at the Olympics. If Plushenko is really physically ready for the Olympics, that makes at least--hmmm; five people ahead of Lysacek at his best. Even without Plushy, there are still Takahashi, Hanyu, Chan, Fernandez, maybe others.

It would still be a significant achievement if Lysacek could at least get himself to the Games (meaning that he was one of America's top two) and make it into the top five or six in Sochi. With his ability to skate for points, he might not need a quad to attain a standing like that. All this is speculation, of course, and keep in mind that I'm no kind of expert on technical details.

"He's recovering from his injuries and his surgeries which were a lot more extensive than a lot of people know. It's getting better and better but he is in pain and he has to be very careful with how much he does. I don't know in figure skating if someone has tried to come back from that level of injury."

I'm curious as to this assertion by Mr Carroll (specifically the part I've underlined - not the former part, which I've merely quoted for context). Thoughts?